Maggie Popadiak

Maggie Popadiak has been the Associate Director of Albany Park Theater Project (APTP) since 2007, during which time she has directed and choreographed for Learning Curve, God’s Work, I Will Kiss These Walls, Home/Land, Feast, Remember Me Like This, and Aquí Estoy. She is an ethnographer, activist, youth worker, teaching artist, writer, college counselor, academic tutor, choreographer, janitor, and at times the company’s Uber driver after late night rehearsals.  

Maggie’s association with APTP dates back to 1998, when she joined the youth ensemble as a freshman in Albany Park’s Roosevelt High School. Her work as an APTP director and performer has been seen at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Humanities Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Steppenwolf Theatre, Storefront Theatre, Vittum Theater, and at the College of Wooster, George Mason University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, and University of Chicago. Maggie is also one of the leaders of APTP’s college counseling program and school-based theater and storytelling arts program at Albany Park Multicultural Academy, Volta Elementary School, and Von Steuben High School in Chicago. Maggie holds a BA in Sociology from the College of Wooster, in Ohio.  

“I make theater in community: collaborating with fearless young people who take great risks, storytellers, and professional adult artists who are invested in telling stories that matter.  I love creating art that empowers youth, immigrant families, and our communities with possibility and power—people who are often silenced by shame, insecurity, or fear and don’t believe in the power of their stories. I love creating theater that inspires our audiences to see the world in a new way, see themselves as active participants, advocates for our storytellers.”